so i finally decided to replace my carpc with an android tablet. best decision ever. easiest install too. my only problem is getting a steady 12v to triger automateit to turn on and off wifi, bt and the screen but i ordered a car charge with 12v and 2amps. i bought an open box acer iconia a100 7inch for $175 since i have its big brother already.

i already have two wrt54g one in wireless bridge mode both hacked with ,custom firmware so that one unit is a regular wireless router that connects to wireless devices or wired devices and the other uses the wireless antenna to automatically connect to my cellphone hotspot and is wired to the othe router, they both use 12v so no convesion was neccesary.

with the wireless hotspot on it gets automatically connected by the router, the tablet autoconnects to the route and boom! internet on the tablet while driving and assuming good signal strength.

next is gps. i bought the mkii bluetooth gps and use an app that uses an extenal gps for the tablet. works great with google maps and google navigation.

audio. the audio output could be a cable but i havent disconnected my headunit from the car, it in the storage box below the radio. my dash radio has bluetooth so for now the tablet connects audio to headunit by bluetooth and quality is good plus i dont have to worry about cable being damaged.

a note about bluetooth is that i can have at least two connections at once and im going to try for more. =)

i bought a uebo 200 that uses 12v, can house a 2tb sata drive, usb host for flashdisk or dvd drive, is a dlna server and all over the car network wired or wireless .... plus it has a remote if u place it in the open. cant wait to connect it but keeping fingers ,crossed.

what i will miss is the backup camera on the headunit. the only work around is a slingbox 200 or slingbox solo which has a composite video in for the backup camera and connects to the network so it "should" play on the tablet.

last note is multiple headrest monitors. i already have 2 headrest monitors that have vga input both connected to a powered 4 port vga splitter in the car. the tablet has a mini hdmi port and i bought a mini hdmi to vga converter to get the tablet signal to the other monitors. apparently they're popular for ipad to video projectors.

i think that just covers my current and future plans. when i get stuff in the mail and connect it i will try to update this for those who are interested. questions or comments?

09-17-2012, 09:25 PM

focused313

I'm very curious to see the usb host setup. I also have a flip down monitor in which I need to buy that hdmi to vga converter. Keep us updated.

09-21-2012, 07:20 PM

khisanthax

the hdmi to vga converter worked! the only thing is that it seems to turn off sound and route through the hdmi. i happen to use bluetooth audio to my head unit and i still get audio. so generally it works great, on my android tablet it also locks rotation to standard so i have to rotate mine which is fine.

This is the install for my iconia ... very simple ... I used cardboard to wrap around the brackets there were already there and double sided table to hold it all together ... I might need to add some more glue myself, like 3m spray glue .....

This is the two wrt54g's i have in my trunk. I opened up the routers, took out the mainboards and put them in a plexiglass housing that I made. You can see it just has a wired connection linking the two.Attachment 67558Attachment 67559

09-22-2012, 01:02 PM

khisanthax

1 Attachment(s)

So my mini-hdmi to vga adapter works ... but it doesn't fit. I tried to strip the plastic at the connector to see if I could bend it and allow it to fit ... but I clipped some wires. So here's a picture just in case someone wants to know what it looks like underneath. It's important to note if someone else tries to strip the plastic there are wires that have no sheath underneath so be careful.

can you touch on your power situation...there are so many devices to be powered i was just wondering how you had it all rigged up?
TIA

09-22-2012, 07:28 PM

khisanthax

sure. 5v convetrers are easy to find on ebay. the last one i bought was 5v 5amps even though i only needed 4a. it was powering two usb hubs foe those devices that can draw power from a usb port and whatever isnt used in amperage can be tapped from the wire directly. for the iconia my 12v acc was 14v and change so i got a cheap car charger for about $4 hacked it apart removed the fuse since its rated for 2amps anyway and basically just used the case and mainboard attaching my own wires with crimps and shoved it behind the dash. i usually look for items that are either 12v or 5v as those are easiest to convert power to. i also tend to make all of my own cables, connectors and harnesses with some help from radioshack. id be lost without a soldering gun. if you dont have an accessory line to tap into, or youre accessory line doesnt have enough amps for all that you want using a relay is a simple solution and the ones that radioshack has are 40a which should be more than enough for accessory devices and it costs about $5. ill post what i did to my charge if that helps?

but as an aside i ran a 8ga cable from the battery to the dash where i have a box with multiple terminal lead and fuses for each line. i dont anticipate needing that much power but off that main line is my 1000w amp and two 800w subwoofers that are under the front seats. power requirements for the acer iconia is minimal. as well as the two headrest monitors i have and the 16 channel eq.

09-23-2012, 10:44 AM

daclothe

Quote:

Originally Posted by khisanthax

sure. 5v convetrers are easy to find on ebay. the last one i bought was 5v 5amps even though i only needed 4a. it was powering two usb hubs foe those devices that can draw power from a usb port and whatever isnt used in amperage can be tapped from the wire directly. for the iconia my 12v acc was 14v and change so i got a cheap car charger for about $4 hacked it apart removed the fuse since its rated for 2amps anyway and basically just used the case and mainboard attaching my own wires with crimps and shoved it behind the dash. i usually look for items that are either 12v or 5v as those are easiest to convert power to. i also tend to make all of my own cables, connectors and harnesses with some help from radioshack. id be lost without a soldering gun. if you dont have an accessory line to tap into, or youre accessory line doesnt have enough amps for all that you want using a relay is a simple solution and the ones that radioshack has are 40a which should be more than enough for accessory devices and it costs about $5. ill post what i did to my charge if that helps?

but as an aside i ran a 8ga cable from the battery to the dash where i have a box with multiple terminal lead and fuses for each line. i dont anticipate needing that much power but off that main line is my 1000w amp and two 800w subwoofers that are under the front seats. power requirements for the acer iconia is minimal. as well as the two headrest monitors i have and the 16 channel eq.

definitely...i'd love as much info/pics as possible!

09-23-2012, 09:48 PM

khisanthax

i messed up the soldering job i did so i have to do it again and ill post the info and pics.

10-25-2012, 11:23 AM

maxthebuilder

Hi khisanthax,
I want to try your dual router setup. New to this....
Your 2 routers are connected with a cable - can they be connected wirelessly?
What do you think, will these things work? - TP-Link TL-WR703N - they are sold on ebay with ddrwrt preinstalled
Thanks!
max